By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Ferntree Gully resident Charlie Blanchard has found his passion for fixing bikes at an age where most kids don’t have a clue of what they like, let alone developing interest in it.
Charlie has been successful in making a motorbike from scratch including the frame as a part of a school project and he received top spot for his work at school.
“I just like fixing up motorbikes; I have lots of knowledge about it and it’s something that I enjoy doing,” Charlie said.
His school project will be displayed in Federation Square as part of arts and technology competition.
His passion for fixing motorbikes started from the age of seven when he started going go kartings.
“I liked the motors and stuff, and enjoy working with them.”
Charlie has been successful in fixing many things like lawn mowers, his own bikes – and providing a hand to neighbours who needed fixing.
Though getting paid for his skillful services, it’s never about money for him.
“For me, it’s not all about the cash; I like working on this kind of stuff and my dream is just to have a shed full of motorbikes and stuff that I can fix up because I love what I’m doing.”
“The cash is just something that can help me buy more motorbikes and bikes to work on.”
Charlie has felt the support not just from his family, especially his mum but also from his school and the locals.
“I was really surprised that people would come to someone like me, instead of going to a bike shop where everyone else would go, I’ll want people to come to me because it’ll give me more to work on,” he said.
Charlie’s talent has been noticed by more than just those who know him.
When he went to his local’s steel shop, the staff who was helping him with the designing and building his bike said they only know four other people who can design and fix bikes at his age.
Charlie’s mum, Elizabeth Symonds said the steel-store staff was really impressed with Charlie’s skills.
“It’s a dying art and he encouraged him to keep going with that, and they even offered him work experience with them,” Ms Symonds said.
When Charlie was younger, his mum taught him about the importance of going with his heart.
“He always does things that give him joy and then it will never feel like work,” she said.
Ms Symonds always made sure her son was out in the nature to keep his creativity going and not just stuck in a room.
“I reckon if kids can keep their imagination open, that creates innovation, then that creates leadership,” she said.
“I knew if I balanced the creativity side of him, he would get a lot of satisfaction from creating from his own mind and that would balance out with doing a lot of schoolwork in a classroom.”
Ms Symonds said Charlie’s passion has helped him make sense of his schooling life.
“His creativity is driving his learning, now he’s his own machine,” she said.
“There’s a little paddock next door, and he built a geodesic dome, which we got the kit and I couldn’t put it together because I was running kids nature lessons next door and he put it together within an hour.”
He’s in Year 10 this year and he’s loving school – he’s ahead of all of his classmates in most classes including his wood tech class.
Thus far, he has fixed about four lawnmowers and sold them, he built a wooden bike with wooden frame and wooden wheels.
Charlie has made his own shed at home where he stores all his tools in, he even made a mini resting place for himself at the rooftop of the shed.
“I went to my mate’s house the other day, he got this little motorbike, and they could not work out why it wouldn’t start and go…but as soon as I got there, I figured out the problem straightaway,” he said.
“I got it running and he was super happy about it.”
He’s determined to start his own little business and become his own boss.
“I want to have a big shed with all the tools, motorbikes and machinery that I can work on, and people can come in and just drop stuff off, and I can fix it,” Charlie said.
For Charlie every day is a learning day and every new bike is a trial and error to polish his skills.
“I feel pretty proud of myself to be honest, I’ve worked hard,” he said.
His mum has been his number one supporter and she will continue to support him at whatever he does.
“He always has really good ideas, even if I don’t know what the outcome is gonna be, it’s always really good, so he’s teaching me faith and I trust him,” Ms Symonds said.
